‘Rock Band will win Xmas battle’

MTV has revealed plans to challenge Activision’s goliath Guitar Hero franchise this Christmas by pushing Rock Band to new audiences – something MCV’s predicted Singstar-branded mic pack would certainly offer.

In his first interview since taking over, new MTV Games VP Scott Guthrie explained the firm’s strategy for retail and its future ‘significant’ digital plans.

The Beatles Rock Band spearheads the effort when it is released on September 9th, followed by the launch of the Warner Bros-published LEGO Rock Band closer to Christmas.

MTV hopes these titles will outperform Activision’s three music games Guitar Hero 5, DJ Hero and Band Hero.

Guthrie said: We’re focusing on big artists and expanding genres – and we’re very focused on the DLC business on which we have completely outflanked our competitor. That will really apply with The Beatles, which will have a significant DLC component to drive sales at retail and online.”

Alex Rigopolous, boss of Rock Band developer Harmonix, added: There will be tens of millions of Beatles fans wanting to play this.”

Guthrie added that MTV won’t release as many different retail SKUs as Activision has for Guitar Hero. He said: The senior retailers we speak to really like the way we go to market. We aren’t cluttering their shelves with insignificant packaged product.”